Generally, diesel engines in on- and off-highway vehicles, construction equipment, and other machines need high cranking torque, which in turn, requires high cranking current. These machines may use on-board batteries to crank and start their main engines. In North American on-highway vehicles, the on-board batteries are usually a 12-volt energy source, which also usually provides power to operate a machine's other electrical components such as electronics, fans, and lighting.
Cranking and starting an engine may draw a significant amount of power from a vehicle's on-board battery. Typically, the on-board battery may be able to provide only three to four main engine cranking events before depleting the energy stored in the battery. Thus, if the engine fails to start after repeated attempts, and/or if the battery loses enough charge due to internal leakage, the charge present in the battery may be insufficient to start the main engine, and it may be both costly and time consuming to bring in the necessary service equipment to remedy such a problem. Moreover, cold weather conditions may exacerbate battery problems because batteries tend to lose significant amounts of charge in low temperature conditions.
Compared to the widely used 12-volt cranking systems, 24-volt cranking systems reduce the cranking current and provide additional voltage needed to crank the engine. However, converting an entire vehicle to utilize 24-volt electrical devices may be cost prohibitive. Moreover, many components of a vehicle, such as electronics, fans, and lighting, rely on 12 volts, usually supplied by the cranking battery. In addition, using the cranking battery to power other components of the vehicle places engine cranking at risk because the cranking battery is frequently discharged below acceptable energy levels to operate comfort and convenience accessories with the engine turned off.
The present disclosure is directed towards overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.